Pitchfork spoke with producer and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Barrow about the tour, the festivals, and the possibility of new Portishead music. And how he really hates Coldplay. A lot.

On the prospect of a new Portishead LP: "It could be five or 10 years away. It could be two years away. If it sounds shit, we ain't going to do it."

Pitchfork: Your upcoming American tour is your first in 13 years. Why now?

Geoff Barrow: It felt like unfinished business, really. We made Third and played Coachella, but Beth [Gibbons] was going to have a baby, so we could only play one show. But we wanted to come back at the next opportunity. And Barry [Hogan] from ATP came to us and put forward the idea of I'll Be Your Mirror in the UK and then America, and we said, "Yes, that would be brilliant, and once we're in America, we would like to tour."

Pitchfork: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have historically not enjoyed playing live.

GB: I used to dislike it quite vehemently, but I found a place with it doing the Third tour. It hasn't got to be miserable. I'm a lot more interested in playing the Third songs than the oldest tracks. It translates pretty well live and, by the time we get to America, we should have sorted out the dodgy bits. But at the same time, it's a necessary thing, and it connects well to an audience. That's why they pay their money, to see us play our tunes. And some tracks from Third just don't translate; so far, we haven't played "Deep Water" because that's kind of a weird tune. And we don't play "Small" because if we played that and some of the other tracks from Third, I think people would go to sleep [laughs].

For years, I thought if we didn't recreate the same Portishead show again and again, then it was always a disappointment. But now things can happen and it's all part of the experience of playing a show. If things break down, that was just our show. Shit happens. It's not saying that we don't take the same amount of detail to it; we do. Also maybe it's about getting older-- being in a band for 20 years and having children-- you realize that people want to relate to Beth and her songs, and it's great.

Pitchfork: Are you doing any new songs at these shows?

GB: We play "Chase the Tear", but other than that, no.

Pitchfork: Are you writing music right now?

GB: We're always writing music.

Pitchfork: Do you have an eye on when you want a new record to come out?

GB: That's impossible for us to say. It could be five or 10 years away. It could be two years away. If it sounds shit, we ain't going to do it.

On curating ATP: "You think: 'How can we make this a really interesting musical experience completely unlike the bullshit festivals in Europe that we've been playing, where it's just fucking corporate shit.'"

Pitchfork: Was it an easy decision to do the ATP festivals?

GB: Yeah, it was probably the easiest live decision we've ever had to make. There's no bullshit. They're like, "This is the budget; go and choose your bands. If it's too expensive, we can't afford them. If they're dead, they can't play." There's no corporate sponsorship. The whole thing is just right. You look at the other people there, and you go, "Ah, it's just people into music." There's no backstage VIP bars and crap. We did an ATP in Minehead and had GZA play Liquid Swords. We had Thurston Moore play. It was just mental. It was the dream ticket because you get a load of money to choose your favorite bands.

Pitchfork: Did you pick all the artists for the I'll Be Your Mirror fests?

GB: It's basically half and half with us and ATP. Barry knows every indie band that ever existed, whether they're available to play, and how much they cost. We can sit down with him and say, "How much are Mogwai? How much are the Swans? How much are Ultramagnetic MCs? How about getting Cluster and Silver Apples together?" He knows all these people.

Pitchfork: With these I'll Be Your Mirror festivals, who are you most excited to see?

GB: Ultramagnetic MCs. I'm a typical English hip-hop white kid from the suburbs. It would be Ultramagnentics.

*"You end up playing these festivals, and people there are just taking photographs with their friends to take it off their life-experience list [*laughs]. It's not really about music."

Pitchfork: Was there anybody who you were hoping to get but couldn't?

GB: In 1998, we tried to get Public Enemy, but they were playing South Africa-- or Flavor was doing "Flavor of Love" or something-- so we couldn't get them. We tried to get Public Image Ltd. ages ago, before they reformed, and we couldn't get them. We've managed to get pretty much everyone we've tried to because we understand how the business works a bit now. To make this a success, you're going to need someone really big, and then other people that are really interesting. You think: "How can we make this a really interesting musical experience completely unlike the bullshit festivals in Europe that we've been playing, where it's just fucking corporate shit."

Pitchfork: What's the worst thing about playing these big European festivals?

GB: Playing next to Coldplay, with their water cannons or fucking fireworks or whatever the fuck it is. Come on.

Pitchfork: You really don't like Coldplay, huh?

GB: No. Fuck that. Or Bruno Mars, man. I've just been speaking to Mogwai about it. You just play with some fucking mental stuff. You just go, "How the fuck did we get on the same bill as him?" And then you realize that if you're playing the same bill as those people, then it's the right festival for them and the wrong festival for you. You should move. It's not them.

Luckily, we've been playing a lot with Arcade Fire, and we get on with them really well. We've been playing ping-pong with them. But you end up playing these festivals, and people there are just taking photographs with their friends to take it off their life-experience list [laughs]. It's not really about music.